The 2023 ESPY Awards have been handed out, and this year’s ESPYs honorees include people behind some of the biggest stories in sports over the last year.
Among the highlights, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and skier Mikaela Shiffrin took home top honors, winning Best Athlete in men’s and women’s sports, respectively.
Naturally, the Chiefs took home Best Team, and Mahomes took home another ESPY for Best NFL player, thanks to the team’s Super Bowl LVII win earlier this year, their second in 4 years. (Mahomes also led the Chiefs to victory at the Super Bowl in 2019.)
Angel Reese, the LSU women’s basketball star who led the team to its 2023 NCAA championship win — and also prompted a lot of people into revealing how racist they are when she celebrated her success in a manner identical to her chief rival, Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark, but unlike Clark, who is white, was subjected to a disingenuous public outrage campaign — won Best Breakthrough Athlete.
Clark, by the way, spoke out in Reese’s defense during the racist backlash she endured. She also scored 30 points in that championship game, the most of any other player, which might explain be why she won Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports even though LSU beat the Hawkeyes 102-85.
NBA superstar LeBron James meanwhile took home Best Record-Breaking Performance for beating fellow Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all time scoring record during the 2022-23 season.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Liam Hendricks won the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, owing to his successful battle against cancer. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team was awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. And the Pat Tillman Award for Service went to the Buffalo Bills Training Staff.
Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks and Lauren Holiday, retired women’s professional soccer star, were given the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. The Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award went to Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel. And the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year award was given to the San Antonio Spurs.
Read on for the complete list of winners.
Best Athlete, Men’s Sports: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Best Athlete, Women’s Sports: Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski
Best Breakthrough Athlete: Angel Reese, LSU Women’s Basketball
Best Record-Breaking Performance: LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for NBA career
scoring record
Best Championship Performance: Lionel Messi, Argentina – World Cup Final
Best Comeback Athlete: Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Best Play: Justin Jefferson with the Catch of the Century
Best Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Best College Athlete, Men’s Sports: Caleb Williams, USC Football
Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports: Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
Best Athlete with a Disability: Zach Miller, Snowboarding
Best NFL Player: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Best MLB Player: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
Best NHL Player: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Best NBA Player: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Best WNBA Player: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Best Driver: Max Verstappen, F1
Best UFC Fighter: Jon Jones
Best Boxer: Claressa Shields
Best Soccer Player: Lionel Messi, Argentina/PSG
Best Golfer: Scottie Scheffler
Best Tennis Player: Novak Djokovic
SPECIAL AWARDS
Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Liam Hendriks
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team
Pat Tillman Award for Service: Buffalo Bills Training Staff
SPORTS HUMANITARIAN AWARDS
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks) and Lauren Holiday
(retired U.S. Women’s National Team)
Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel
Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year: San Antonio Spurs
Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award Honorees: Dr. Richard Lapchick
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